With the announcement of Mario Tennis Fever, we’ve officially entered the Switch 2 era of Nintendo sports games, and we can only hope it will be better than the last. Tennis was also the lead-off sport for the original Switch: Mario Tennis Aces was followed by Mario Golf: Super Rush and Mario Strikers: Battle League. All three games had similar issues, but Mario Tennis Fever could potentially be a course correction for the franchise.
Mario Tennis Fever was revealed at the Nintendo Direct on September 12, 2025, and given a release date of February 12, 2026. Sliding and diving are among Fever‘s additions to the series, but its most transformative feature is Fever Rackets, which has all sorts of special abilities, like releasing balls of fire or patches of ice on the opponent’s side of the court. Fever‘s Adventure mode also looks interesting, but there are larger issues at play with Mario sports titles.
Mario Sports Games On The Original Switch Were Underwhelming
Simple With Poor Multiplayer Functionality
None of the Mario sports games released for the Switch were outright bad, but they were frequently frustrating. Nintendo seemed to adopt a quasi-live-service model for them. Aces, Super Rush, and Battle League all felt a bit lacking when they were released, and while free content updates post-launch were nice, they felt like band-aids on a larger issue.
It also didn’t help that each one exemplified Nintendo’s poor multiplayer functionality. Clunky multiplayer lobbies were prevalent, but I was most annoyed by the lack of any sort of competent competitive playlists. I adore Mario Golf games, but Super Rush‘s simplification of the controls, plus no interesting ways to play competitively online meant I dropped it sooner than I would have liked. Battle League‘s ranked mode, which rewards players regardless of match outcome, makes it seem like Nintendo wants to avoid any serious competition.
Mario Tennis Fever Will Hopefully Set A New Precedent On Switch 2
Please Be Good
As the first Mario sports game on Switch 2, Mario Tennis Fever may be a barometer of sorts for what to expect from Golf and Strikers going forward (and hopefully a new Mario Baseball). It’s off to a promising start, with 38 playable characters and 30 Fever Rackets alone promising significant variety. Different court surfaces will add to that, and there is already a nice variety of modes that have been shown off.
I’m hoping that the reveal trailer specifically mentioning a ranked mode means significant thought has been put into it. However, Mario Kart World has already disappointed on this front, with its online ranking system being the largely meaningless numbers that accompany your username. It’s also unfortunate that Fever Rackets were part of the ranked mode gameplay – I specifically looked for Super Rush lobbies with Special Shots disabled, because they tend to disrupt the level competitive playing field.
Nintendo caters to a broad audience, but it’s frustrating to have that come at the expense of more in-depth gameplay and competitive modes. Ranked modes with divisions are so popular simply because it’s fun to test your skill against players of a similar rank. Mario Tennis Fever will hopefully launch feature-rich and with a high skill ceiling, and then we can truly leave behind a disappointing era of Mario sports games.
Mario Tennis Fever
- Released
-
February 12, 2026
- Publisher(s)
-
Nintendo EPD
- Multiplayer
-
Online Multiplayer
